Japan’s Abe orders extra budget for earthquake reconstruction

Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered his government on Sunday to compile an extra budget package to fund reconstruction from recent earthquakes that hit the south of the country, with an aim to put it into effect by June 1.

The move comes as Abe faces increasing pressure to inject more economic stimulus to reignite growth in a stagnant economy ahead of a Group of Seven (G7) summit his government will host in late May in Ise-Shima in central Japan.

Abe told a meeting of his disaster-response committee that the government needs to compile a supplementary budget with an intention to bring it into effect during this session of parliament, which ends on June 1.

“We need to move fast and take more flexible measures,” Abe said after visiting the quake-hit areas in southern Japan the previous day.

The earthquakes on the island of Kyushu killed about 50 people and damaged at least 5,000 houses, forcing about 80,000 people out of their homes as of Friday. Read more